It’s a hard truth that not every product is exciting. They might be incredibly necessary, they might even solve important problems, but at the end of the day, they are still… boring.
However, that doesn’t mean the stories told about these products have to be boring. In fact, using video, you can demonstrate the exact opposite. The key to success is to use powerful, emotional connections to sell something that otherwise might be seen as dull.
In this guest post from Bold Content Video, we’ll examine four different campaigns that managed to deliver exciting videos about relatively boring products, with key takeaways for your own business.
Poq – Making Technology Feel Real
Poq is a business-to-business, app commerce company that vastly simplifies online sales for their clients. Their product creates easy-to-use templates clients can customize to sell products online.
Their market is wide. Anyone in retail knows that modern consumers expect an easy-to-purchase experience. Thus, most online retailers have a website along with an app, where customers can save card details, delivery information, and more. This is where Poq comes in. They design the templates for their clients to use within apps to sell products.
Now, explaining what exactly Poq offers could be very dry, none-the-less wordy. In fact, the best way is to not really explain it at all. Rather, it’s to show how their services can positively affect their clients.
The story the advertisement tells is character-driven, making it the opposite of a traditional product video. The viewer is subtly walked through the process of how Poq’s product is used because it is tied into the story. The payoff at the end (where the main character is given the dress) makes the story memorable, and resonating to the viewer.
You can get an insider view of how Bold Content produced this video for Poq on their blog.
Tip: Telling how the product can help the client, not what the product does.
Dove – Relatable Protagonists
This advertisement from Dove is a great example of a promotional video that uses a social experiment to connect with the participants in the video, and through them, connect with the viewer.
The ad features multiple women who described their features to a sketch artist, who then drew their face. The process is then repeated with a stranger describing the same woman, and a second sketch being drawn of them.
The genuine reactions from the women after viewing their portraits carry through to the viewer. Using a voice-over of reflections from the women drive home the message of the video. Dove’s brand is tied in with a call-to-action at the end of the video.
The video features characters that fall under their target market, which makes them ideal to connect with potential consumers. The social experiment is intriguing, and hooks the viewer from the start. The emotional impact then keeps them engaged.
The overall message of the video is especially relevant in today’s culture. The portrayal of women in the media has been challenged more strongly in recent years, along with the treatment of women in the media industry. This video is very much about exploring different meanings of beauty, and empowering women by encouraging them to see beauty within themselves.
Tip: Make sure your target audience can relate to your protagonist to increase authenticity.
Extra Gum – Unexpected Uses
This product video from Extra Gum is an excellent example of how to promote a product by finding a creative new use for it. The video focuses on the love story of a couple, in which gum wrappers are used in their ultimate engagement.
Everyone is already familiar with gum and its use—you chew it—so how do you make a new gum product video interesting? The creators have demonstrated a new way in which someone can use not the gum, but the wrapper it comes in.
A relationship with its ups and downs is something most people can relate to. This video takes an every-day story and creates significance through the use of the product. Intrigue is created when the viewer sees the male lead begin to write on every wrapper.
The payoff at the end: finding out the gum wrapper is being used as sketch paper to capture each little moment the male lead finds important. While the story features the two young lovers, the gum wrappers end up having a huge significance in how their story evolves.
Tip: Tie in your product in an unexpected manner, and weave it into your story (as a bonus, make it the “hero” of the story).
84 Lumber – Taking a Stand
84 Lumber made their Super Bowl debut back in 2017. This video was so powerful because it told an important story that reflected the current political climate in the US. It put a face to those affected by this climate. The video then tied in 84 Lumber at the end of the video as a savior. 84 Lumber took a stand, but through their story about the child and mother seeking asylum, they created a human connection.
The most interesting thing about this promotional video is that 84 Lumber is a business-to-business company. They tied in their company’s offerings to the story. This allowed the video to become more than just a promo about a company that sells wood.
Tip: Relating current events to your business, and how your business makes an impact, can resonate with audiences.
These product videos have multiple functions: entertainment, brand awareness, and sales development. Yet, they all have one thing in common. They primarily use storytelling to create an emotional connection with the viewer. The product appears in the video almost as a second thought.
They are all carefully crafted, memorable stories. Importantly, they also include a call-to-action that contextualizes the concept and gives the viewer an avenue to learn more about the product.
This approach to a product video is much less in-your-face-sales, and additionally creates a sense of trust. The best product video shows the benefits of using a product through relatable, memorable characters.
